With the Ravens kicking off the preseason in Tampa next Thursday night, the first depth chart of the summer has been released.

It’s very important to understand the estimated depth chart is a creation of the public relations staff based on observations during training camp practices and not a creation of head coach John Harbaugh, meaning the coaching staff’s actual depth chart could be different.

That being said, it is interesting to see defensive tackle Haloti Ngata listed as the starting nose tackle — he’s taken nearly all of his snaps at that spot with the starting defense in camp — and Courtney Upshaw and Elvis Dumervil listed as co-starters at the strongside linebacker position. Upshaw has played extensively with the first unit in the base defense while Dumervil has looked more like a situational pass rusher at this early stage of camp.

Veteran Jameel McClain is still listed as a starting inside linebacker despite the fact that he remains out indefinitely and on the physically unable to perform list, but free-agent acquisition Daryl Smith is listed as the starting “Mike” inside linebacker and appears to be the favorite to play Ray Lewis’ old position. Second-round rookie linebacker Arthur Brown is listed as the third-string “Will” backer in a clear sign that he will need to pay his dues and beat out other contenders such as Josh Bynes and Albert McClellan to live up to his draft billing.

James Ihedigbo is currently listed as the starting strong safety over first-round pick Matt Elam, but that is also another example of a veteran receiving the early nod where position battles are anticipated.

Starters are listed first at each position and in bold with the rest of the depth chart following in order from second-string players to the bottom of the totem pole. Injured players are marked with an asterisk.